Silent Valley

Saved from being flooded by a hydroelectric project in the 1970s through one of the first great environmental campaigns of independent India

Area

89 km²

Protection category

UICN II

Parque nacional — what the IUCN categories mean

Declared in

1984

Region

South Asia (Kerala)

Climate

Tropical, Árido / desértico, Polar / frío, Montañoso

Best time

November to March

Plan your visit

Best time: November to March
Area: 89 km²

Highlight

Saved from being flooded by a hydroelectric project in the 1970s through one of the first great environmental campaigns of independent India

Declared in 1984, Silent Valley owes its existence to one of the first great victories of the environmental movement in independent India: in the 1970s a government hydroelectric dam project that would have flooded the valley was stopped after years of campaigning by scientists, writers and activists, culminating in the personal decision of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi to cancel the project in 1983 and declare the area protected the following year.